The engineering materials diffractometer, VULCAN, at the Spallation Neutron Source began commissioning on June 26, 2009. This instrument is designed for materials science and engineering studies. In situ lattice strain measurements of a model metallic material under monotonic tensile load have been performed on VULCAN. The tensile load was applied under two different strain rates, and neutron diffraction measurements were carried out in both high-intensity and high-resolution modes. These experiments demonstrated VULCAN's in situ study capability of deformation behaviors even during the early phases of commissioning.

The magnetism in Mn3Si2Te6 has been investigated using thermodynamic measurements, first principles calculations, neutron diffraction and diffuse neutron scattering on single crystals. These data confirm that Mn3Si2Te6 is a ferrimagnet below TC ≈78 K. The magnetism is anisotropic, with magnetization and neutron diffraction demonstrating that the moments lie within the basal plane of the trigonal structure. The saturation magnetization of ≈1.6µB/Mn at 5 K originates from the different multiplicities of the two antiferromagnetically-aligned Mn sites. First principles calculations reveal antiferromagnetic exchange for the three nearest Mn-Mn pairs, which leads to a competition between the ferrimagnetic ground state and three other magnetic configurations. The ferrimagnetic state results from the energy associated with the third-nearest neighbor interaction, and thus longrange interactions are essential for the observed behavior. Diffuse magnetic scattering is observed around the 002 Bragg reflection at 120 K, which indicates the presence of strong spin correlations well above TC . These are promoted by the competing ground states that result in a relative suppression of TC , and may be associated with a small ferromagnetic component that produces anisotropic magnetism below ≈330 K.

Current sulfide solid‐state electrolyte (SE) membranes utilized in all‐solid‐state lithium batteries (ASLBs) have a high thickness (0.5–1.0 mm) and low ion conductance (<25 mS), which limit the cell‐level energy and power densities. Based on ethyl cellulose's unique amphipathic molecular structure, superior thermal stability, and excellent binding capability, this work fabricates a freestanding SE membrane with an ultralow thickness of 47 µm. With ethyl cellulose as an effective disperser and a binder, the Li6PS5Cl is uniformly dispersed in toluene and possesses superior film formability. In addition, an ultralow areal resistance of 4.32 Ω cm−2 and a remarkable ion conductance of 291 mS (one order higher than the state‐of‐the‐art sulfide SE membrane) are achieved. The ASLBs assembled with this SE membrane deliver cell‐level high gravimetric and volumetric energy densities of 175 Wh kg−1 and 675 Wh L−1, individually.